Skip Navigation
Digest of Education Statistics
2013 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 602.70. Average science literacy scores of 15-year-old students and percentage attaining science literacy proficiency levels, by country or other education system: 2012
[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
Country or other education system Average science literacy score Percentage attaining science literacy proficiency levels1
Below level 2
Level 1
At level 2 At level 3 At level 4 At or above level 5
Total below level 2 Below
level 1
At level 1 Total
at or above level 5
At level 5 At level 6
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
OECD average2 501   (0.5) 17.8   (0.17) 4.8   (0.09) 13.0   (0.14) 24.5   (0.16) 28.8   (0.17) 20.5   (0.15) 8.4   (0.11) 7.2   (0.10) 1.1   (0.04)
                                                             
Australia 521   (1.8) 13.6   (0.48) 3.4   (0.25) 10.2   (0.41) 21.5   (0.47) 28.5   (0.68) 22.8   (0.63) 13.6   (0.55) 10.9   (0.47) 2.6   (0.25)
Austria 506   (2.7) 15.8   (1.00) 3.6   (0.54) 12.2   (0.92) 24.3   (1.05) 30.1   (0.85) 21.9   (0.81) 7.9   (0.70) 7.0   (0.62) 0.8   (0.20)
Belgium 505   (2.2) 17.7   (0.86) 5.9   (0.53) 11.8   (0.58) 21.5   (0.63) 28.7   (0.71) 23.0   (0.66) 9.1   (0.43) 8.1   (0.42) 0.9   (0.16)
Canada 525   (1.9) 10.4   (0.47) 2.4   (0.24) 8.0   (0.38) 21.0   (0.65) 32.0   (0.54) 25.3   (0.58) 11.3   (0.55) 9.5   (0.47) 1.8   (0.20)
Chile 445   (2.9) 34.5   (1.58) 8.1   (0.80) 26.3   (1.11) 34.6   (1.06) 22.4   (0.96) 7.5   (0.60) 1.0   (0.15) 1.0   (0.15) #   (†)
                                                             
Czech Republic 508   (3.0) 13.8   (1.13) 3.3   (0.62) 10.5   (1.03) 24.7   (0.99) 31.7   (1.23) 22.2   (0.96) 7.6   (0.58) 6.7   (0.53) 0.9   (0.18)
Denmark 498   (2.7) 16.7   (0.97) 4.7   (0.55) 12.0   (0.69) 25.7   (0.80) 31.3   (0.90) 19.6   (0.79) 6.8   (0.70) 6.1   (0.67) 0.7   (0.17)
Estonia 541   (1.9) 5.0   (0.45) 0.5   (0.14) 4.5   (0.43) 19.0   (0.87) 34.5   (0.87) 28.7   (0.96) 12.8   (0.73) 11.1   (0.66) 1.7   (0.25)
Finland 545   (2.2) 7.7   (0.58) 1.8   (0.28) 5.9   (0.48) 16.8   (0.69) 29.6   (0.77) 28.8   (0.73) 17.1   (0.66) 13.9   (0.62) 3.2   (0.38)
France 499   (2.6) 18.7   (1.01) 6.1   (0.67) 12.6   (0.71) 22.9   (1.08) 29.2   (1.12) 21.3   (0.87) 7.9   (0.77) 6.9   (0.68) 1.0   (0.21)
                                                             
Germany 524   (3.0) 12.2   (0.90) 2.9   (0.46) 9.3   (0.73) 20.5   (0.82) 28.9   (0.89) 26.2   (1.05) 12.2   (0.95) 10.6   (0.80) 1.6   (0.28)
Greece 467   (3.1) 25.5   (1.47) 7.4   (0.70) 18.1   (1.14) 31.0   (1.10) 28.8   (1.02) 12.2   (0.81) 2.5   (0.40) 2.3   (0.40)   (†)
Hungary 494   (2.9) 18.0   (1.14) 4.1   (0.61) 14.0   (1.04) 26.4   (1.08) 30.9   (1.16) 18.7   (0.98) 5.9   (0.75) 5.5   (0.73) 0.5 ! (0.18)
Iceland 478   (2.1) 24.0   (0.78) 8.0   (0.56) 16.0   (0.72) 27.5   (0.87) 27.2   (0.86) 16.2   (0.74) 5.2   (0.61) 4.6   (0.60) 0.6   (0.17)
Ireland 522   (2.5) 11.1   (0.88) 2.6   (0.40) 8.5   (0.76) 22.0   (1.15) 31.1   (1.03) 25.0   (0.94) 10.7   (0.58) 9.3   (0.63) 1.5   (0.25)
                                                             
Israel 470   (5.0) 28.9   (1.67) 11.2   (1.08) 17.7   (0.93) 24.8   (0.93) 24.4   (1.19) 16.1   (1.12) 5.8   (0.65) 5.2   (0.58) 0.6 ! (0.22)
Italy 494   (1.9) 18.7   (0.68) 4.9   (0.35) 13.8   (0.52) 26.0   (0.58) 30.1   (0.66) 19.1   (0.59) 6.1   (0.41) 5.5   (0.37) 0.6   (0.08)
Japan 547   (3.6) 8.5   (0.88) 2.0   (0.39) 6.4   (0.61) 16.3   (0.79) 27.5   (0.92) 29.5   (1.06) 18.2   (1.21) 14.8   (0.93) 3.4   (0.49)
Korea, Republic of 538   (3.7) 6.6   (0.77) 1.2   (0.25) 5.5   (0.60) 18.0   (1.02) 33.6   (1.11) 30.1   (1.24) 11.7   (1.13) 10.6   (0.93) 1.1 ! (0.39)
Luxembourg 491   (1.3) 22.2   (0.63) 7.2   (0.42) 15.1   (0.67) 24.2   (0.63) 26.2   (0.60) 19.2   (0.53) 8.2   (0.54) 7.0   (0.49) 1.2   (0.17)
                                                             
Mexico 415   (1.3) 47.0   (0.81) 12.6   (0.52) 34.4   (0.58) 37.0   (0.59) 13.8   (0.52) 2.1   (0.16) 0.1 ! (0.04) 0.1 ! (0.04)   (†)
Netherlands 522   (3.5) 13.1   (1.12) 3.1   (0.53) 10.1   (0.83) 20.1   (1.35) 29.1   (1.28) 25.8   (1.24) 11.8   (1.06) 10.5   (0.98) 1.3   (0.28)
New Zealand 516   (2.1) 16.3   (0.86) 4.7   (0.39) 11.6   (0.76) 21.7   (0.94) 26.4   (0.95) 22.3   (0.85) 13.4   (0.69) 10.7   (0.62) 2.7   (0.25)
Norway 495   (3.1) 19.6   (1.10) 6.0   (0.63) 13.6   (0.71) 24.8   (0.80) 28.9   (0.91) 19.0   (0.79) 7.5   (0.57) 6.4   (0.56) 1.1   (0.24)
Poland 526   (3.1) 9.0   (0.75) 1.3   (0.32) 7.7   (0.70) 22.5   (0.98) 33.1   (0.92) 24.5   (0.96) 10.8   (1.01) 9.1   (0.76) 1.7   (0.35)
                                                             
Portugal 489   (3.7) 19.0   (1.44) 4.7   (0.66) 14.3   (1.09) 27.3   (0.96) 31.4   (1.25) 17.8   (1.06) 4.5   (0.55) 4.2   (0.55) 0.3 ! (0.11)
Slovak Republic 471   (3.6) 26.9   (1.58) 9.2   (0.95) 17.6   (1.14) 27.0   (1.30) 26.2   (1.62) 15.0   (1.02) 4.9   (0.72) 4.3   (0.58) 0.6 ! (0.25)
Slovenia 514   (1.3) 12.9   (0.56) 2.4   (0.19) 10.4   (0.55) 24.5   (1.00) 30.0   (1.02) 23.0   (0.92) 9.6   (0.72) 8.4   (0.71) 1.2   (0.24)
Spain 496   (1.8) 15.7   (0.71) 3.7   (0.33) 12.0   (0.51) 27.3   (0.64) 32.8   (0.60) 19.4   (0.53) 4.8   (0.29) 4.5   (0.26) 0.3   (0.08)
Sweden 485   (3.0) 22.2   (1.11) 7.3   (0.62) 15.0   (0.80) 26.2   (0.84) 28.0   (0.84) 17.2   (0.77) 6.3   (0.50) 5.6   (0.45) 0.7   (0.14)
                                                             
Switzerland 515   (2.7) 12.8   (0.72) 3.0   (0.31) 9.8   (0.62) 22.8   (0.82) 31.3   (0.74) 23.7   (0.86) 9.3   (0.77) 8.3   (0.70) 1.0   (0.22)
Turkey 463   (3.9) 26.4   (1.50) 4.4   (0.50) 21.9   (1.27) 35.4   (1.43) 25.1   (1.28) 11.3   (1.28) 1.8   (0.36) 1.8   (0.34)   (†)
United Kingdom 514   (3.4) 15.0   (1.07) 4.3   (0.48) 10.7   (0.86) 22.4   (1.00) 28.4   (0.98) 23.0   (0.91) 11.2   (0.79) 9.3   (0.70) 1.8   (0.34)
United States 497   (3.8) 18.1   (1.33) 4.2   (0.54) 14.0   (1.08) 26.7   (1.08) 28.9   (1.07) 18.8   (1.07) 7.5   (0.74) 6.3   (0.64) 1.1   (0.20)
                                                             
Non-OECD education systems                                                            
Albania 397   (2.4) 53.1   (1.20) 23.5   (1.04) 29.6   (0.94) 28.5   (1.19) 14.4   (0.78) 3.6   (0.41) 0.4 ! (0.13) 0.4 ! (0.14)   (†)
Argentina 406   (3.9) 50.9   (2.21) 19.8   (1.39) 31.0   (1.46) 31.1   (1.33) 14.8   (1.20) 3.0   (0.43) 0.2 ! (0.10) 0.2 ! (0.10)   (†)
Brazil 405   (2.1) 53.7   (1.14) 18.6   (0.78) 35.1   (0.79) 30.7   (0.78) 12.5   (0.68) 2.8   (0.37) 0.3 ! (0.10) 0.3 ! (0.10)   (†)
Bulgaria 446   (4.8) 36.9   (2.02) 14.4   (1.34) 22.5   (1.15) 26.3   (1.07) 22.5   (1.09) 11.2   (0.84) 3.1   (0.58) 2.8   (0.50) 0.3 ! (0.12)
Chinese Taipei 523   (2.3) 9.8   (0.77) 1.6   (0.25) 8.2   (0.64) 20.8   (0.89) 33.7   (0.97) 27.3   (1.00) 8.3   (0.61) 7.8   (0.56) 0.6   (0.13)
                                                             
Colombia 399   (3.1) 56.2   (1.61) 19.8   (1.36) 36.3   (1.10) 30.8   (1.08) 11.0   (0.83) 1.9   (0.25)   (†)   (†)   (†)
Connecticut-USA3 521   (5.7) 13.5   (1.70) 3.3   (0.82) 10.2   (1.36) 21.4   (1.58) 29.4   (1.69) 22.8   (1.46) 12.9   (1.34) 10.7   (1.13) 2.2   (0.60)
Costa Rica 429   (2.9) 39.3   (1.75) 8.6   (0.79) 30.7   (1.30) 39.2   (1.25) 17.8   (1.12) 3.4   (0.57) 0.2 ! (0.10) 0.2 ! (0.11)   (†)
Croatia 491   (3.1) 17.3   (0.93) 3.2   (0.38) 14.0   (0.74) 29.1   (0.99) 31.4   (1.19) 17.6   (1.16) 4.6   (0.79) 4.3   (0.75)   (†)
Cyprus 438   (1.2) 38.0   (0.67) 14.4   (0.47) 23.7   (0.66) 30.3   (0.89) 21.3   (0.73) 8.4   (0.43) 2.0   (0.29) 1.8   (0.29) 0.2 ! (0.08)
                                                             
Florida-USA3 485   (6.4) 21.3   (2.15) 5.1   (0.96) 16.1   (1.61) 28.4   (1.61) 28.2   (2.00) 16.6   (1.64) 5.5   (1.05) 4.9   (1.01)   (†)
Hong Kong-China 555   (2.6) 5.6   (0.62) 1.2   (0.23) 4.4   (0.52) 13.0   (0.72) 29.8   (1.06) 34.9   (0.99) 16.7   (1.05) 14.9   (0.91) 1.8   (0.36)
Indonesia 382   (3.8) 66.6   (2.20) 24.7   (1.96) 41.9   (1.42) 26.3   (1.54) 6.5   (1.02)   (†)   (†)   (†)   (†)
Jordan 409   (3.1) 49.6   (1.55) 18.2   (1.21) 31.4   (0.96) 32.2   (1.04) 15.0   (0.86) 3.0   (0.57)   (†)   (†)   (†)
Kazakhstan 425   (3.0) 41.9   (1.83) 11.3   (0.99) 30.7   (1.49) 36.8   (1.16) 17.8   (1.19) 3.3   (0.45) 0.2 ! (0.09) 0.2 ! (0.09)   (†)
                                                             
Latvia 502   (2.8) 12.4   (0.96) 1.8   (0.39) 10.5   (0.90) 28.2   (1.20) 35.1   (1.02) 20.0   (1.05) 4.4   (0.51) 4.0   (0.47) 0.3 ! (0.13)
Liechtenstein 525   (3.5) 10.4   (1.96)   (†) 9.6   (1.94) 22.0   (3.94) 30.8   (3.79) 26.7   (2.58) 10.1   (1.80) 9.1   (1.47)   (†)
Lithuania 496   (2.6) 16.1   (1.08) 3.4   (0.48) 12.7   (0.84) 27.6   (1.00) 32.9   (1.08) 18.3   (0.88) 5.1   (0.49) 4.7   (0.47) 0.4   (0.09)
Macao-China 521   (0.8) 8.8   (0.46) 1.4   (0.20) 7.4   (0.49) 22.2   (0.60) 36.2   (0.81) 26.2   (0.73) 6.7   (0.36) 6.2   (0.35) 0.4   (0.10)
Malaysia 420   (3.0) 45.5   (1.55) 14.5   (1.13) 31.0   (1.21) 33.9   (1.10) 16.5   (1.07) 3.7   (0.54) 0.3 ! (0.12) 0.3 ! (0.13)   (†)
                                                             
Massachusetts-USA3 527   (6.0) 11.5   (1.18) 2.6   (0.65) 8.9   (1.03) 21.2   (1.96) 29.4   (1.50) 23.8   (1.84) 14.2   (1.94) 11.3   (1.48) 2.9   (0.73)
Montenegro, Republic of 410   (1.1) 50.7   (0.72) 18.7   (0.74) 32.0   (0.98) 29.7   (0.94) 15.4   (0.76) 3.8   (0.47) 0.4 ! (0.14) 0.4 ! (0.14)   (†)
Peru 373   (3.6) 68.5   (1.95) 31.5   (1.61) 37.0   (1.26) 23.5   (1.29) 7.0   (0.85) 1.0   (0.28)   (†)   (†)   (†)
Qatar 384   (0.7) 62.6   (0.53) 34.6   (0.38) 28.0   (0.58) 19.6   (0.71) 11.2   (0.39) 5.1   (0.40) 1.5   (0.12) 1.3   (0.11) 0.1   (0.04)
Romania 439   (3.3) 37.3   (1.64) 8.7   (0.77) 28.7   (1.32) 34.6   (1.23) 21.0   (1.12) 6.2   (0.77) 0.9 ! (0.29) 0.9   (0.26)   (†)
                                                             
Russian Federation 486   (2.9) 18.8   (1.15) 3.6   (0.39) 15.1   (0.96) 30.1   (1.08) 31.2   (0.89) 15.7   (0.98) 4.3   (0.59) 3.9   (0.51) 0.3 ! (0.16)
Serbia, Republic of 445   (3.4) 35.0   (1.81) 10.3   (0.99) 24.7   (1.15) 32.4   (1.21) 22.8   (1.06) 8.1   (0.63) 1.7   (0.36) 1.6   (0.35)   (†)
Shanghai-China 580   (3.0) 2.7   (0.41) 0.3 ! (0.11) 2.4   (0.36) 10.0   (0.86) 24.6   (0.87) 35.5   (1.11) 27.2   (1.32) 23.0   (1.09) 4.2   (0.57)
Singapore 551   (1.5) 9.6   (0.51) 2.2   (0.27) 7.4   (0.48) 16.7   (0.73) 24.0   (0.73) 27.0   (0.87) 22.7   (0.81) 16.9   (0.94) 5.8   (0.41)
Thailand 444   (2.9) 33.6   (1.56) 7.0   (0.64) 26.6   (1.33) 37.5   (1.07) 21.6   (1.14) 6.4   (0.74) 0.9   (0.27) 0.9 ! (0.27)   (†)
                                                             
Tunisia 398   (3.5) 55.3   (1.87) 21.3   (1.45) 34.0   (1.07) 31.1   (1.36) 11.7   (1.00) 1.8   (0.49)   (†)   (†)   (†)
United Arab Emirates 448   (2.8) 35.2   (1.30) 11.3   (0.76) 23.8   (0.99) 29.9   (0.83) 22.3   (0.88) 10.1   (0.60) 2.5   (0.27) 2.3   (0.25) 0.3   (0.07)
Uruguay 416   (2.8) 46.9   (1.25) 19.7   (1.06) 27.2   (0.92) 29.3   (1.00) 17.1   (0.95) 5.6   (0.53) 1.0   (0.25) 1.0   (0.24)   (†)
Vietnam 528   (4.3) 6.7   (1.09) 0.9 ! (0.26) 5.8   (0.90) 20.7   (1.40) 37.5   (1.48) 27.0   (1.50) 8.1   (1.09) 7.1   (0.90) 1.0 ! (0.32)
†Not applicable.
#Rounds to zero.
!Interpret data with caution. The coefficient of variation (CV) for this estimate is between 30 and 50 percent.
‡Reporting standards not met. Either there are too few cases for a reliable estimate or the coefficient of variation (CV) is 50 percent or greater.
1 To reach a particular proficiency level, a student must correctly answer a majority of items at that level. Students were classified into science literacy levels according to their scores. Exact cut scores are as follows: below level 1 (a score less than or equal to 334.94); level 1 (a score greater than 334.94 and less than or equal to 409.54); level 2 (a score greater than 409.54 and less than or equal to 484.14); level 3 (a score greater than 484.14 and less than or equal to 558.73); level 4 (a score greater than 558.73 and less than or equal to 633.33); level 5 (a score greater than 633.33 and less than or equal to 707.93); and level 6 (a score greater than 707.93).
2 Refers to the mean of the data values for all Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, to which each country contributes equally, regardless of the absolute size of the student population of each country.
3 Results are for public school students only.
NOTE: Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) scores are reported on a scale from 0 to 1,000. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), 2012. (This table was prepared November 2013.)

2013 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest